Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Announces Grants for Southern Exposure: Performing Arts of Latin America

Baltimore, MD -- Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation have announced the grants for the 2013-2014 Southern Exposure: Performing Arts of Latin America (Southern Exposure) program. This is a national program that supports U.S. arts organizations to present exemplary dance, music and theater artists from Latin America to a broad range of communities across the United States. The tours are developed by consortia of organizations in different cities or states that work cooperatively in building tour activities. A community engagement component of Southern Exposure ensures that community members have the opportunity for direct interaction with the Latin American artists during their stay in the U.S.   Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation will grant awards totaling $154,200 to eight organizations presenting Comphanhia Urbana de Dança of Brazil and Las Alegras Ambulancias of Colombia.   Companhia Urbana de Danca is an emerging Brazilian dance company with roots in hip-hop, capoeira and contemporary forms. The company will perform ID: Entidades (Identities), which draws on the identities and life stories of the company's young male dancers who hail from the rough outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Another piece, Na Pista (On the Dance Floor) explores the influences of social dance and pop culture on contemporary dance. They will tour to 651 Arts, Brooklyn, NY; Carpetbag Theater, Knoxville, TN; Dance Place, Washington, DC; Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN; and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA.   Las Alegras Ambulancias is an internationally-renowned music ensemble dedicated to preserving the oral traditions of the descendants of African slaves that settled on Colombia's Caribbean coast. These include the drums and songs that were part of the funerary ceremony. They keep alive the beliefs that joy (alegres) in the form of music and dance is the vehicle (ambulancias) of passage from this world to the next for departed souls. Venues on their tour include Center for Traditional Music and Dance, New York, NY; Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL; and Sante Fe International Folk Art Market, Sante Fe, NM.   For a complete list of engagement dates, times, and detailed project descriptions, click here.   Grant recommendations were made by the following panel that reviewed the applications submitted to the program:   > Bebe Miller, Artistic Director, Professor,     Bebe Miller Company and Ohio State University (Columbus, OH) > Alberto Ráfols, retired arts administrator (Portland, OR) > Mark Valdez, Executive Director    Network of Ensemble Theaters (Los Angeles, CA) > Jacob Yarrow, Programming Director    Hancher Auditorium, University of Iowa, (Iowa City, IA)   For more information on the Southern Exposure program, click here. Guidelines for the 2014-2015 program will be posted in the fall.   About Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation develops partnerships and programs that reinforce artists' capacity to create and present work, advance access to and participation in the arts, and promote a more sustainable arts ecology. To learn more about MAAF, its programs and services, visit our web site at www.midatlanticarts.org. About the National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. www.arts.gov. About the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation currently supports nonprofit organizations conducting work in three program areas: Protecting Reproductive Rights, Improving the Performance of Public Institutions in New York, and a new initiative, Promoting International Arts Engagement. The objective of the arts initiative is to help develop global understanding in communities throughout the world that have limited contact with American culture, and to introduce American audiences to cultures that are rarely represented in the U.S. The initial plans are to support international engagement between U.S. visual and performing arts organizations and their counterparts in Latin America, Africa, and parts of the Middle East. For more information about the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation visit: www.rsclark.org

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Oct 22, 2012

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